Taking Care of Henry and Charlie Calls
by TracyLynn
Summary: HenryBetty and Henry Missing Scenes from 02.03 Betty's Wait Problem Part 1 Betty and Hilda taking care of Henry Part 2 Charlie calls Henry


_**Author's Note : **__This is the next installment in my "missing scene" series. I am writing scenes that represent something that we know happened but we didn't see. _

_Now, with last week's episode, __Betty's Wait Problem__, I took suggestions from my posse over at instant-connection and they came up with two good choices. So, even though this is a one-part story I have written two missing scenes. The first is Hilda and Betty dealing with a sleeping Henry. And, the second is Henry getting the phone call from Charlie. _

_I hope you enjoy and please review so I know you are reading._

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**Part 1 – Taking Care of Henry **

Hilda was in the kitchen rummaging through the refrigerator while making her grocery list for the coming home party for her father when she heard a loud knock at the door and someone yelling. She closed the door to the refrigerator and poked her head into the living room just as she saw Betty opening the door. It was Henry and he looked drunk. Hilda was surprised to see him even though Betty had told her earlier that he was back working at Meade. Betty looked like she had everything under control, so Hilda went back to work taking inventory in the kitchen and making a list for the party.

After pulling down her father's recipe box, Hilda sat at the kitchen table and finished fine-tuning her list. She could hear talking in the other room and hoped everything was going okay. Betty had told her what had happened with Henry and his ex-girlfriend and Hilda knew that the turn of events had broken Betty's heart. She had been so excited that night Henry had been coming over for dinner but then everything had gone wrong. Hilda looked up thoughtfully from her list, EVERYTHING had gone wrong that week for both of them.

Hilda sat down the pen she was using to write. Now that she thought about it, had Betty really even had the chance to deal with the loss of Henry ? No. As usual, she had instead put her own feelings in the background and had jumped in to help Hilda and Justin deal with their grief which neither of them had done very well. And, after more than three weeks of pushing him to the back of her mind, here was Henry, front and center.

She listened and no longer heard talking. Maybe it was time she helped Betty for a change. She got up from the table and slowly walked toward the living room. As she approached the entryway quietly, she saw Betty sitting on the steps with Henry's head in her lap. Betty was slowly stroking his hair as Henry slept. If Hilda hadn't known before, she knew now just how much her sister loved this man and she hoped things could work out with them. Quietly she tried to get Betty's attention.

"Hey…"

Betty looked up and smiled weakly while never stopping the methodical stroke of her hand.

"He's drunk."

"I thought so."

"Christina told him about Charlie."

Betty had told Hilda the story of Charlie and the orthodontist after Santos's funeral when Hilda had finally thought to ask Betty how she was doing with Henry gone. In fact, it might have been the last real conversation they had had before Hilda had cocooned herself in her room to let go of her life with Santos.

"And ?"

"He wanted to know why I didn't tell him. He is so heart-broken and we still don't know if the baby is his. He came to tell me that Charlie was the only real reason we weren't together and now he wants to be with me."

"So what are you going to do ?"

"Nothing."

She looked down at him and smiled and then looked up at Hilda.

"I mean, I want to be with him. You know I do. But, I can't move forward without knowing all of it. I need to know if he is the father of the baby, and so does he."

"And if he is ?"

"If he is, then we go forward knowing that and make decisions knowing that. He's done with Charlie but……."

Hilda nodded.

"I know what you mean."

Betty glanced down at him again still stroking his hair absentmindedly.

"He broke my heart when he left for Arizona and I never thought I'd see him again and here he is, back and now his own heart is breaking. I wish Charlie would have never come to New York."

"I'm sure he does too."

There was a long pause as Betty watched Henry and Hilda watched Betty.

"So, what are we going to do with him ? Couch ?"

Betty looked up at her sister.

"Yeah, I guess."

Hilda came over by the stairs and Betty tried to rouse Henry from his sleep.

"Henry…….Henry……wake up."

She nudged him awake and he slowly moved to a sitting position trying to focus in on who was calling his name.

"Bettttty…"

He looked at her, leaning slightly forward.

"Hi. Hilda and I are going to help move you to the couch so you can sleep."

He smiled wearily.

"Shleeeep ?"

Hilda leaned over and started to help him up to a standing position and Betty did the same with the other arm.

"Come on, and you can sleep."

They slowly managed to get him to a standing position and walked him slowly over to the couch where they sat him down with a thud. Hilda stood up and looked at Betty shaking her head.

"I'll go get a pillow and blanket from upstairs."

"Okay."

Hilda left and Betty looked at Henry, who was almost asleep sitting up. She reached up and unzipped his jacket pulling each arm from the sleeves and tossing it over on a chair. He watched her as intently as he could in his condition while she completed the task.

"Betty, you're so beautiful."

Betty smiled. Even drunk he was so endearing.

"Thank you, Henry."

Hilda came back downstairs with one of Betty's pillows with a Beauty and the Beast pillowcase and a bright blue blanket. Betty took the pillow from her and laid it at one end of the couch.

"Henry, lie down. Here. There you go."

She helped him lift his legs onto the couch and he fell right to sleep.

"Help me get these shoes off."

Hilda sat the blanket down next to Betty and moved to the other end of the couch and started to remove Henry's shoe. She tried to pull it off first, but it was on tight so she started to untie the laces. She recognized the double-knot quickly and was powerless to untie them. She looked over at Betty.

"Double-knots ?"

"Yeah, he is afraid of tripping. I guess we'll just leave them on. Thank you, Hilda."

"No problem."

Hilda stood back and watched as Betty picked up the blanket and laid it over him. She tucked in the sides so he was secure on the couch then she reached over and took off his glasses and laid them on the coffee table. She looked back up at Hilda.

"I'm going to bring something in here to put by the couch in case he, you know, wakes up not feeling well and then I am going to sit here with him for a little bit to make sure he is okay. I'll be up to bed in a bit."

"Are you sure you are okay ?"

"I'm fine. I want to be hopeful but right now we just have to wait and see."

"Well, if you need to talk….."

Betty smiled up at her.

"I know, thanks."

Hilda left the room and headed upstairs. Betty went to the downstairs bathroom and brought the wastebasket into the living room and set it next to the couch. She went into the kitchen and turned all the light outs. She came back into the living room and turned on the small lamp in the entry hallway so if Henry woke up in the night he could make out his surroundings and see the bathroom.

When she came back into the living room she could see he had shifted and turned slightly to his side with has back up against the back of the couch. There was just enough room for her to sit on the edge next to him and she did.

"Henry….."

She ran her fingers through his hair smoothing it back away from his face.

"…..don't break my heart again. I want this to work out for us. I really do want to be with you. I won't give up hope."

Then she did something impulsive, she leaned down and kissed his forehead lingering for a moment remembering their kiss on the bridge. After sitting and watching him for a few more minutes, she finally stood up and headed to bed.

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The next morning, Betty knocked on Hilda's bedroom door.

"Hilda ?"

Hilda opened the door already dressed and brushing through her hair.

"What's up ?"

"I've got to get to work. I checked on Henry and he is still sleeping. Can you make sure he is okay when he gets up and get him a cab back home ? I don't want to wake him."

"Sure. I'll make him my hangover cure when he gets up and he'll be as good as new."

Betty made a face.

"Just try not to kill him, okay ?"

Hilda smiled.

"Okay. Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets home okay."

Betty looked at her watch.

"Thanks. I've got to get going."

Betty ran downstairs, went over and checked one last time on Henry, who was sleeping like the dead and then left for work.

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**Part 2 – Talking to Charlie**

What a day, after waking up with a hangover, drinking Hilda's hangover remedy, yelling at Marc and Amanda and working half a day, Henry had had enough. He put the key in the lock of the apartment door and practically fell inside.

Thankfully, Kenny was out of town this week at his parents. Henry had felt lucky when his friend had agreed to let him crash at his apartment while he was back in New York to work, but now with this recent turn of events he probably should start looking for a place of his own because now he was staying, he was staying until he won her back.

He went to the spare room, which was temporarily his home, and shed his clothes down to his boxers and short sleeve t-shirt and went to the kitchen. He looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. He needed something semi-nutritious and there wasn't much. He made a mental note to go to the store on the way home from work tomorrow. Finally, he grabbed some eggs, some leftover chicken, a tomato, green pepper and some shredded cheese. Somehow cooking always made him feel better.

After a few more minutes of prep he put together a pretty good omelet and then poured himself a glass of milk. He quickly threw the sauté pan and other dishes he had used to make dinner into a sink of hot soapy water and grabbed his plate of food, some silverware and his milk and headed to the living room and sat down on the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to CNN and sat back to eat. He finished his omelet and was happy to feel full and in no way nauseous or ill. He drank his milk and then took the dishes back to the sink. He quickly washed and dried everything putting away each piece as he went.

Once done, he made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then he was back in the living room sitting on the couch. His mind wandered back over the last 24 hours and he thought about the conversation with Christina, the wine coolers, the cigarette and then waking up at Betty's on the couch. Hilda has done her best to make him feel better and her hangover remedy had helped in some way.

He'd gone to work and managed to get through a half-day of work. He had looked once for Betty but she had been so busy with the Black and White Ball that he had never caught up with her. It was probably just as well, he felt like a complete jerk for showing up on her doorstep drunk last night.

He smiled.

She had said she wanted to be with him though, he remembered hearing that before he had fallen asleep on her lap. He was holding on to that. He leaned his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, he heard his cell phone ring. He got up and went to fish it out of his jacket pocket. Looking at the caller id, he felt the anger rise up in him again. Charlie.

He took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello."

_"Henry, it's Charlie. I got your message, is everything okay ? Is there a problem with the insurance ?"_

Oh, there was a problem with the insurance, all right, he thought.

"_Henry ? Are you there ?"_

"I'm here."

_"What's wrong ? You sound upset."_

"Upset doesn't even begin to describe it."

"_Henry, what is it ?"_

"Charlie, I'm just going to get to the point because I don't have the heart or the energy to play games at this point. Were you seeing someone else while you were here ? Are you sure I am the father of this baby ?"

Henry could hear something in her voice when she replied that answered his questions but he needed her to admit it.

_"Henry, what….I don't know….of course, you are ….."_

He shook his head with anger, enough was enough.

"Charlie, I can go down tomorrow to Dr. Farkas's office and ask him these questions or you can be the one to tell me the truth now, it's up to you."

There was a deafening silence on the other end of the phone.

"Charlie, I want the truth and I want it now."

_"Henry…."_

"Just tell me the truth. Were you seeing him ?"

_"Yes…..I was seeing Gabe before I left with you back to Arizona."_

"For how long ?"

_"About two months……."_

"And, is he the father of this baby ?"

_"Henry….."_

Henry wanted answers and spoke loudly back to her.

"Is he the father ?!"

Charlie spoke quieter.

_"He might be."_

"He might be ?"

"_I don't know, Henry, the dates are too close."_

Henry winced at the thought of what that implied.

"I need to know."

_"The doctor says we can do a paternity test when I am fourteen weeks along, which will be next week and the results are fairly quick."_

How did she know that ?

"You already checked into it ?"

"_I needed to know too. Look, I was scared and I was jealous and I just wanted it to be yours and to get you back to Arizona with me so we could go back to the way it was before you left."_

He still felt so angry and he had no room for sympathy or forgiveness at this point.

"Charlie, you lied to me. You cheated on me. You made me leave the person I …."

He stopped and took a deep breath.

"You manipulated me into leaving my home and my job and you……"

He glanced at the baby books stacked neatly on the coffee table.

"…you made me believe I was going to be a father when I may not be."

_"You might be the father, Henry."_

He felt horrible for thinking for a moment that he was wishing he wasn't.

_"How did you find out about Gabe, anyway ? Betty ?"_

He could hear the contempt in her voice.

"It doesn't matter how I found out. The truth is, I should have found out from you. But, just for the record, no, Betty is not the one that brought your betrayal to my attention."

He paused and waited for his words to sink in before continuing.

"Schedule an appointment for the test. Do you need anything from me ?"

_"I don't know. I'll call you when I know."_

"Have your doctor call my doctor here if he needs anything and arrange to have a copy of the test results sent here as well. Write down this name and number."

Henry gave her the name and number of his local doctor in New York.

_"Henry, I know it doesn't mean anything now but I really am so….."_

He interrupted her before she could finish her apology.

"I'll call your doctor's office tomorrow to give them my insurance information. Call me back as soon as you know when the results will be ready. If I don't answer, leave me a message."

_"Henry, if the baby is yours….."_

Again, he didn't want to hear any more from her.

"We'll figure that out when we know for sure."

_"Okay."_

"Does Dr. Farkas know about the baby ? Does he even know where you are ?"

_"He knows I moved back to Arizona but he doesn't know about the baby."_

"Was there anyone else ? Anyone besides Dr. Farkas ?"

_"Henry ! No, I'm not like that."_

"Charlie, if there is anything I've learned in the last twenty-four hours it is that I have no idea what you are like or who you are for that matter."

_"He was the only one."_

"Look, I've got to go. Call me about the test as soon as you know something."

_"Are you going to come back to Arizona if the baby is yours ? "_

"We'll talk about it after you get the test results back. Goodnight, Charlie."

_"Goodnight, Henry."_

He closed his phone and tossed it to the coffee table. Another week and he would know, and he would deal with it then. In the meantime, he needed to get some sleep and he would tell Betty tomorrow that he had talked to Charlie and that they had to wait for the paternity test. She had said she would wait and he would keep his fingers crossed until they had the results.

_The end._


End file.
